The Dames' Diatribe on NWA:TNA Week 36

[Guest TSMAdmin]

The Dames' Diatribe on NWA:TNA Week 36

 

 

Hey everyone, welcome back this week.

 

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who visited TheSmartMarks.com last week and made Week 35 the most read TNA report I've ever done. Secondly, I'm coming down with a cold, so I feel like crap. I got drunk for the first time this weekend which stirred up a lot of depression and anger in me for some reason, so combined with a cold, I want to just get this one done as soon as possible.

 

Before we get going though, on TheSmartMarks.com, Brandon Truitt has put up another of his great shoot interview reviews, this time with Raven. This shoot was just released a few days ago and was done fairly recently, so you should all check it out.

 

Now, let's go right to the recap before I die at the keyboard.

 

The PPV starts with Hacksaw Jim Duggan in the middle of the ring with the American Flag. He begins a patriotic promo by telling France and Germany to stay out of the US's way. He then asks everyone to stand up and do the Pledge of Alliance....and they do it. He gives the troops a shout out and riles up the crowd in a U.S.A. chant. Well, it would be just wrong to job him out tonight huh?

 

A video package comes next showing the initial attack on Jeff Jarrett by Eric Watts, Vince Russo "quitting" the wrestling business, Glen Gilberti taking over S.E.X., the debut of D'Lo Brown and the conclusion of last week's Raven/AJ Styles match. Nope...no Lollipop footage.

 

The PPV intro now finally shows up, but S.E.X. come to the ring (Harris Bros, Gilberti & Siaki). Gilberti gets on THE STICK~! and calls out D'Lo Brown to "correct a mistake" from last week. D'Lo Brown comes down (to EZ Money's music for the second week in a row) with a chair in hand. The crowd starts up with a "D'Lo" chants, but it's dwarfed compared to last weeks. Sonny Siaki immediately apologizes for his actions last week and offers a handshake, but D'Lo doesn't accept it. In a nice touch, Glen Gilberti introduces himself to D'Lo (calling himself Glen Gilberti, The Disco Inferno) as they've never been in the same promotion together. Gilberti then tells him that unlike WWE, the ceiling in TNA isn't made out of glass, it's made out of concrete. That sort of kills the whole ceiling analogy, but whatever. Gilberti implies that Jeff Jarrett is holding everyone down and says that Jeff Jarrett helped him out last week only because D'Lo has a guaranteed title shot in his contract. He points out the fact that he's already teaming with Jarrett this week as a sign of Jarrett trying to get close with him.

 

This prompts Jeff Jarrett to come out and refuse Gilberti's point. He tells him that if he believes Gilberti, Vince McMahon just called him to tell him that they want D'Lo back. D'Lo tells Jarrett that Gilberti makes a lot of sense ("Disco's starting to make a lot of sense here") because it seems like a case of keeping your enemies close and your enemies closer. Jeff Jarrett tells D'Lo that it sounds like he wants a hand out....and then gets attacked by Eric Watts, David Flair and Brian Lawler! D'Lo immediately jumps out of the ring to help out Jarrett and does so, but S.E.X. joins the fray and start beating on JJ. Dusty Rhodes comes down to the ring and basically forces S.E.X. to sell for his pathetic offense before he starts getting beaten down too! Americas Most Wanted come down, but the numbers are still too much! Then....THE TRUTH~! comes down to the ring and he's a TRUTH...EN...FUEGO~! He helps clear the ring of S.E.X. as well as the Second Generation Trio and then HUGS Jeff Jarrett! They celebrate together as the NWA Traditionalists regroup....

 

My Two Cents: For the most part, I really liked this angle. Glen Gilberti planting the seed of doubt in D'Lo's mind can definitely give a new dynamic to his character in TNA. Can D'Lo trust Jeff Jarrett? Will D'Lo turn to S.E.X.? I haven't cared about S.E.X. for weeks now, but this is starting to peak my interest. I could care less about the Second Generation Trio and when Brian Lawler of all people is the most talented of the three, you got a seriously pathetic stable there. Dusty Rhodes looked like he didn't belong there and S.E.X. looked like chumps selling his elbows and punches. Americas Most Wanted got a pop on the way out, but this was all about The Truth, making his way back into the fold. Truth and Jarrett hugging got a pop and definitely surprised me given their past history. I was just begging for a turn though....

 

Tenay and West then direct us to a pre-taped Raven promo as tonight, we'll have a rematch from last week as AJ Styles and Raven have a Hardcore Ladder Match to determine a clear cut number one contender. I honestly believed that the double pin was going to result in a Three Way Dance with Jeff Jarrett for the title. In this case, they could have just skipped the double pinfall nonsense from last week and just did a double DQ, double count out or no contest. The Raven promo pretty much states the rules of the match up, which will be no DQ and have a decisive winner. A contract will be dangling from the top of the arena and you must climb the ladder to retrieve it. Standard Raven promo as he uses a lot of big words and tries to sound sophisticated while telling everyone that he's destined to become the next NWA World Champion.

 

We immediately go to the ring for our first match which is...

 

Triple X vs. The Disciples of the New Church (w/Father James Mitchell) for the NWA Tag Team Titles

 

Match Background: As Bryan Staebell stated in the NWA:TNA Week 36 Preview on TSM, this match makes perfect sense, booking wise. In Week 30, Elix Skipper and Low-Ki defended their Tag Team Titles against The Disciples of the New Church but that match ended up in a dreaded double pin draw. The titles were vacated immediately, with XXX regaining the titles last week against AMW in a *** match. Now that XXX have their titles back, they have to face the team that pinned them to vacate the titles tonight.

 

The Match: Tonight, Elix Skipper and Low-Ki are the ones facing the Disciples with Chris Daniels at ringside. That is the same combination that faced them in Week 30 in a nice touch of continuity. An "Evil" chant is started by the crowd before the match starts. It immediately starts with The Disciples throwing Elix and Low-Ki out of the ring and nailing Chris Daniels. Slash goes over the top to the floor onto all three members with a decent somersault tope...followed by one by Brian Lee! They begin brawling at ringside with the Disciples taking on all three men with no problem. Elix Skipper finally regains some control on the outside as he back body drops out of a pile driver attempt by Slash. In the ring though, Brian Lee is taking care of Low-Ki for a bit before they head to the outside again. Slash and Elix finally get into the ring, but Daniels trips up Slash to give XXX the advantage for the first time in the match. Slash tries to clothesline Elix, but he Matrixes down, allowing Low-Ki to hit an AWESOME roundhouse kick from behind! Twisting legdrop in the corner by Elix gets a two count on Slash before he tags in to Low-Ki. He gives Slash a few chops and a STIFF~! kick to the back before working him over in the corner some more. Elix comes in and works over Slash a bit before setting up a DEVASTATING double team maneuver! He pretty much picked up Slash onto his shoulders facing up as Low-Ki came off the top with a knee drop to the THROAT! That looked like it KILLED Slash! ONE...TWO...NO! Oh COME ON! AT LEAST have Brian Lee come in to interrupt the count on that one! Low-Ki goes for a kick out of the corner, but Slash catches him and gets a chokeslam into a powerbomb! "Evil" chant by the crowd as Slash rallies to his feet and makes the hot tag to Brian Lee! Well, he didn't get much of a pop but he takes care of all of XXX for a sec. He hits a Death Valley Driver on Elix for two before tagging out to Slash. They go for the Doomsday Dropkick combo, but Elix crotches Slash and Low-Ki gets a Dragon Sleeper out of the Electric Chair position. Brian Lee throws him off though...into the ref. Lee goes for the FAKE TOMBSTONE~! on Low-Ki but Daniels comes off the top rope with a belt shot! Slash comes back into the ring and nails him with a scissors kick! Skipper turns Slash around and goes for the Play of the Day, but Slash gets out of it! He goes for his hangmans neckbreaker but Low-Ki interrupts and gets the Slash and Burn for it! There's no ref though and Daniels throws in a title belt for Elix to use. He hits the Play of the Day on Slash on it and the ref starts to count...ONE...TWO...but gets pulled out by MALICE! Malice comes into the ring, powerbombs Elix and Daniels and then chokeslams Low-Ki and the ref!

 

Winner: Triple X via DQ

 

My Opinion: Everytime I tell myself that Malice is gone, he shows up! If there were 6 man tag titles in TNA, this would be a perfect rivalry. The match wasn't as good as their first encounter or the tag title match from last week, but that's probably because they weren't given enough time. They'll probably be a 6 man tag next week and I'm all for it. **1/2.

 

We go to a sit down interview between Mike Tenay and Eric Watts. Tenay tells him to talk about his background...to which Watts says that everyone knows about his background. Hello, most people don't even know who you ARE. He says that despite all of his accomplishments, all he can say is that he took the World Champion and slammed him through a table. Wow...the crowd REALLY doesn't care as you can hear a "Boring" chant THROUGH the pre-taped segment. This is just a really bad segment as Watts is just putting himself over without giving any reasons and the crowd can see right though his BS. He says that his father, Cowboy Bill Watts was the best promoter of ALL TIME and all of the people he fired ended up coming to power. That sure says something about his booking ability. They held Eric down to spite his father, according to Eric. No, quite frankly, they realized he was talentless and that he was only given his spot due to nepotism and it was cut short. Tenay wants to know what Watts means when he tells Jarrett that he will "regret what you did", so Watts calls Tenay Barbara Walters and he's Michael Jackson. He goes off on a tangent on MJ dangling his kid over a balcony, like an idiot before dodging the question completely. Horrible, horrible segment.

 

In the back, Glen Gilberti scolds XXX for the Malice attack. It looks as if Low-Ki is down....but he's probably just going to Japan. MIKE SANDERS~! comes in and does his BEST Sonny Siaki impression, which is just HILARIOUS. He starts giving the rest of S.E.X. advice just like Siaki before Gilberti slaps the hell out of him! Gilberti doesn't want Sanders to play around anymore and threatens Sanders to beat Duggan tonight. He then tells Holly Wood to go out and show everyone's Athena's boobs....

 

Tenay and West talk about how Gilberti has taken control. Hell, he's better than Vince Russo!

 

We go to an Interrogation segment with Konnan and Word Association comes first:

 

Jerry Lynn: Punk Ass Bitch

Eric Bischoff: Punk Ass Bitch

Retro Jerseys or Fubu Gear? Konnan: Retro jerseys, i'll leave Fubu for Buff Bagwell and DDP.

Max Moon: The Best.

Rey Mysterio: In a league by himself

Mil Masceras or El Santo: El Santo

Raven or AJ Styles? Konnan: I don't care for either of them, you got Pee Wee's House of Oranges and AJ Styles can toss my salad and peel my potatoes. (I'll NEVER understand that peel my potatoes joke.)

Luchador Won-Loss Record vs. The X-Division? Konnan gets upset and walks out.

 

Seems like the best Interrogations are the ones where the person getting interrogated gets up and walks out...

 

Jerry Lynn & ?? vs. Konnan & Juventud Guerrera

 

Match Background: Konnan and Jerry Lynn have been feuding for a few weeks now as he's brought in several luchadors to face Jerry Lynn, but all of them were defeated by the former X Champ. Konnan brought in Juventud Guerrera to face Jerry Lynn a few weeks ago in Week 33 and had a great match with him as well. After last week's loss by Konnan's team of Halloween and Damien, Konnan attacked Jerry Lynn from behind. Instead of facing him one on one this week, Konnan's facing him in a tag team match, his first in TNA, teaming up with Juvi. Jerry Lynn's tag team partner is a mystery although Paul London was originally scheduled to be his partner last week before he was replaced by David Young.

 

The Match: Juvi comes out to an orange pimp coat while Konnan is back to his gangsta gear he wore in WCW. All the jerseys that he wore and he goes back to that to wrestle? Jerry Lynn's partner is Jason Cross. Lynn and Juvi start the match out, exchanging hammerlocks and armdrags. They have an awkward mid-ring collision and exchange arm drags before hitting the Indy Applause Stance to bother the hell out of me. They lock up with Juvi getting in some nice chops in the corner. They end up in the Jerry Lynn pinfall reverse sequence and it seems like these two are just going by the numbers tonight. Lynn gets a cross body and a tilt a whirl backbreaker for two before giving Cross a blind tag. Cross comes in with a spinning wheel kick and go through a bunch of reversals before hitting a brainbuster on him. Cross goes to the top and goes for a corkscrew SOMETHING but it doesn't matter as he EATS CANVAS. Cross recovers and goes for a roll up, but Juvi rolls through and hits a basebent dropkick to the face on Cross. He tags Konnan in who goes to work on Cross and Konnan REALLY hasn't changed in the ring. Konnan holds Cross up for a Juvi dropkick on Cross before Konnan tags out. Cross and Juvi don't have much chemistry in the ring. Each man tags out to their respective partner as Konnan and Lynn finally hook up. Lynn goes for a rana on Konnan, but Juvi springboards up and over Lynn into a sloppy sunset flip powerbomb for a broken up two. Konnan is SERIOUSLY WINDED. Konnan uses ALL of his strengh to elevate Juvi over the top, but Cross hits him with a missile dropkick. Cross hits the CROSSFIRE~! on Konnan but Juvi breaks it up! Juvi gets a Juvi Driver and goes for a presumed 450 splash...but he botches it and lands on Cross with his ASS! Tenay tries to call it a senton splash, but Juvi's known for the 450 so that's what I think he was going for. Either way, it only gets a two count as Lynn breaks it up. Lynn goes for the CRADLE PILEDRIVER~! but Konnan hits his rolling clothesline to break it up. He gets the WORST X-FACTOR EVER and he actually blows the move and gets a two count with it. Lynn goes for a corner roll up, but Konnan holds onto the ropes for the pinfall and the win.

 

Winner: Konnan and Juventud Guerrera

 

My Opinion: What a disappointment. Guerrera and Cross has zero chemistry, Konnan was VERY winded and they blew some big spots. *1/4.

 

We now go to a video package of Kid Kash and Trinity and how she's sacrificed herself for Kash in the past two weeks, to the protests of Red.

 

In the back, Goldylocks is with Kid Kash and Trinity. Kash tries to downplay any of Trinity's involvement in his title matches before Red gets into his face. Once again, Red the mic GOD, delivers his lines worse than some porn actors. He challenges Trinity to a match, but Kid Kash tells him in a heelish fashion that he's a gentleman. He then tells Red that the only way he'll get Trinity is through him....so Red assumes it's a three way dance and exits.

 

Glen Gilberti & Mike Sanders vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan and ??

 

Match Background: A few weeks ago, Gilberti and Sanders were making fun of gimmicks of old, naming Hacksaw Jim Duggan as one of them. Duggan then debuted last week, facing and sadly, defeating Sanders in a one on one match. Afterwards, he and Gilberti attacked Duggan, setting up tonight's tag match, although Duggan's partner is a mystery.

 

The Match: Duggan's partner is no way to be seen as the match starts. Sanders and Gilberti jump him from behind on the apron. Hey....Sanders has dyed his hair jet black! They throw Hacksaw in and beat the hell out of him in the corner (not selling much by the way) before Moondog Spot comes into the ring, looking VERY FAT and DECREPIT. He nails Sanders as Gilberti walks out of the match, embarrassed about Moondog Spot! Hacksaw gets up and BLOWS the Old Glory Knee Drop, which doesn't look like it does ANYTHING and Sanders gets pinned again!

 

Winners: Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Moondog Spot

 

My Opinion: WHO DID MIKE SANDERS PISS OFF!? He jobs AGAIN to Duggan and Moondog Spot!? Seriously, had this match gone about 10 minutes, it would have been one of the worst matches I'd ever seen that didn't involve Cheex. I'm going to the negatives but since it was really short, I'll only give it : -*

 

You know...they really are focusing on Lollipop this week, I don't even think the other TNA dancer is here. And of course...once I say it, the other dancer finally appears.

 

Goldylocks is in the back with the Church (Lee, Slash and Malice) and Father Mitchell. Mitchell challenges XXX (Elix and Daniels) and the Harris Brothers to an 8 man tag team match next week as the Church will unveil a new member. They plan on challenging S.E.X. themselves....

 

Red vs. Kid Kash vs. Trinity for the X Division Title

 

Match Background: Two weeks ago, Red faced Kid Kash for the X Title and was defeated. Prior to the match, he told Kid Kash to leave Trinity behind, which he didn't do. Trinity sacrificed herself, allowing Kash to get the advantage in the match and ultimately win. Last week, Red was given another title shot in a 3 way dance because of it. Trinity once again sacrificed herself and got into a confrontation with Red after the match.

 

The Match: I've just got to say two things about Trinity. 1. I didn't notice how nice of an ass she has until tonight with her short tights. 2. She's got MUCH better music than Kid Kash. He might as well just take her theme. As the bell rings, Kash tells her to get out of the ring, but she doesn't listen. Kash elevates Red as the match starts and he dropkicks her to the floor. Red gets some AIR on a NICE springboard elbow drop for two. Kash comes back with a face plant for two as Trinity is still on the outside. He puts on a variation of the LionTamer, ending in a powerbomb for two as well. In a spot that just looked really unbelievable, Red ducks a clothesline and shoves Kash to the mat with one hand and hits the Red Star Press. The guy weighs less than Spike Dudley and Kash takes a bump off of a one handed shove? Trinity gets back on the apron but gets knocked back onto the floor as Kash is whipped into her. Red gets a few right hands but Kash comes back with an enziguir. With Red in the corner, Kash hits a version of the Van Terminator going across the ring with a somersault dropkick, which sounds a lot more impressive than it is. He calls it the 130 Edge for some reason and gets a two count with it. Kash hits a neckbreaker into the BANKROLL~! for a despised two count. Kash goes to the top but gets crotched by Red. Kash comes back though and sets Red up for a Super Powerbomb but Red hits a rana out of it in mid move! Tenay points out how Kid Kash made that move famous! Red heads up for the Infra Red, but Trinity nails him and he falls to the canvas. She comes off the top with a rana just like Kash! She follows it up with a swinging DDT! She also gets a flying head scissors on him! It's like she's using all of Kash's moveset, but better! She heads up to the top to hit a moonsault, but Kash picks up Red and hits a ROLLING Snap Release German Suplex for the win!

 

Winner: Kid Kash

 

Post match, Kash walks to the back without Trinity...

 

My Opinion: This match was EXTREMELY spotty. They kept Trinity out of the ring for the majority of the match which probably made things better, but she hit all of her spots very crisply at the end of the match. The storyline intrigues me, but this match was nothing more than a series of spots thrown together. *1/4.

 

In the back, Goldylocks is outside Jeff Jarrett's locker room (which highly resembles a long broom closet) when Dusty Rhodes walks past her and goes in. As the door is open, you can hear D'Lo's voice yelling in the background.

 

We go to a video package of last week where Dusty Rhodes, Jeff Jarrett and D'Lo Brown got into an altercation with Eric Watts, David Flair and Brian Lawler

 

Jeff Jarrett & D'Lo Brown & Dusty Rhodes vs. Eric Watts & David Flair & Brian Lawler

 

Match Background: A few weeks ago, Eric Watts, Flair and Lawler came out at the end of the program and put Jeff Jarrett though a table. The week after, Watts got into the champion's face, claiming that he was held down because of him. Dusty Rhodes tried to talk to Flair and Lawler last week...but ended up beating them up for some reason and paid for it due to the strength in numbers until Jarrett and D'Lo made the save. This sets up tonight's match.

 

The Match: D'Lo doesn't get much of a pop this time out and his graphic surprisingly just says "D'Lo" apparently dropping the "Brown", although he's as D'Lo Brown by Borash. David Flair puts his replica NWA Title on the announce table, sending Mike Tenay into conniptions. Brian Lawler starts the match with D'Lo, getting an atomic drop and an inverted atomic drop. He gets the SHAKY SHAKY LEGDROP~! as Tenay talks about D'Lo being the first EuroContinental Champion in WWE. Lawler gets a cheap shot but gets a spinebuster by D'Lo (called a powerbomb by Tenay). Sky High by D'Lo gets a two count as Flair breaks it up. Flair comes in and takes ARMDRAGS incorrectly and I just can't believe he's directly related to one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Eric Watts tags in and goes after D'Lo. He gets a falling chokeslam as well as some strikes....and he still sucks as bad as he did in the early 90's. Flair comes back in and gives D'Lo a vertical suplex for two. Lawler comes in and superkicks D'Lo as he charges him in the corner. Watts comes in and tries to hang D'Lo on the top rope....but practically throws him on the damn apron. The Trio work over D'Lo in the corner until a "Jerry's Kid" chant erupts and throws Lawler off his game. D'Lo picks him up and hits the CATATONIC~! which SUCKS for Chris Harris since that's his finisher! I don't know if Harris has been using it longer, but D'Lo did it first on TV. He finally makes the tag to Jeff Jarrett who comes in and performs a full house keeping service on the Trio! Watts tries to get Jarrett's attention from behind, but Dusty comes in and takes care of him. They throw him over the top as Jarrett is in the ring with Lawler and Flair. D'Lo trips up Lawler and Flair eats the Stroke for the pin!

 

Winners: Jeff Jarrett, D'Lo Brown & Dusty Rhodes

 

D'Lo Brown goes up the ramp immediately, but Rhodes and Jarrett stay to celebrate. The Truth comes into the ring and I'm BEGGING for a turn dammit! He celebrates with the both of them....but powerbombs Jarrett as Jarrett poses on the turnbuckles for the crowd! He hits the True Conviction, but Jarrett blows it! Truth leaves through the crowd as the Trio take over on Dusty and Jarrett! Watts puts a noose around Jarrett's neck and takes him to the parking lot. In the parking lot, Watts tries Jarrett to the back of his limo and gets in! Tenay and West go CRAZY at the though of Watts doing this....but Watts stops short and tells Jarrett that he just did this to get inside his head. They take off in the limo, leaving Jarrett lying.

 

My Opinion: Wow...I just want Eric Watts off my screen. He's just a weak performer, in and especially out of the ring. No one gives a damn about him and they're shoving him down our throats in a main event angle. They really need to do something about that. Flair and Lawler suck it up in the ring as well. I wonder if D'Lo will get any flack for not helping Jarrett next week. 3/4*

 

The Disciples and Mitchell go right to the SEX locker room where they bust in, but get ambushed by XXX, Disco, Siaki and the Harris Brothers! They beat on Malice SIX on ONE!

 

After that, Siaki takes Holly Wood and tells her to take Athena's top off! Athena wastes no time and just attacks Holly Wood first! They begin catfighting, just like she did last week with Lollipop, but nothing pops out this week. After pretty much winning the catfight, Athena gets up. Siaki then tells Athena to rip off Holly Wood's shirt because it doesn't matter who's breasts we see...although he'd prefer Holly Wood's over her "floppy flapjacks". That earns him a slap....which earns her a SIAKOLYPSE NOW~! She was just SPIKED with it! All of a sudden, DAVID YOUNG~! runs into the ring and takes off his shirt, meaning business! Siaki leaves as he attends to her.

 

Tenay and West are now shown at the announce booth pimping.....NEXT....WEEK! The Disciples & ?? vs. XXX & The Harris Brothers. Lynn vs. Konnan one on one finally!

 

Now...it's time for the main event! But first, a Raven/Styles video package set to TECHNO MUSIC. Fo' Sheez. The package calls this match "8 steps between Heaven and Hell". NICE video package...my props to Borash for that.

 

Raven vs. AJ Styles in a Hardcore Ladder Match in a #1 Contenders match.

 

Match Background: Ever since Raven and AJ Styles both made it known that they wanted the NWA Title, they've been at each others throats. In Week 29, Raven got into his first physical confrontation with AJ Styles as Raven had stolen the NWA Title from Jarrett and told AJ that he'd have to go through HIM in order to get a title shot. Things escalated in subsequent weeks with Raven and AJ brawling in the back and in the ring along with Raven dislocating two of AJ's fingers at one point. After AJ Styles got a title shot and lost, he tried to join SEX, but Raven was against it. AJ faced the Sandman as Raven faced an X-Division competitor due to comments they made about each other not being able to survive in the others' element. Raven helped AJ defeat Sandman though and vice versa. They've gotten into brawl with Jeff Jarrett separately and together ended up brawling after Raven's Clockwork Orange House of Fun in Week 34. Last week, they battled to see who would face Jeff Jarrett, but ended in a double pin. Tonight...is the rematch.

 

The Match: Tenay says that if you put Raven in a Hardcore match, he's damn near unbeatable...but AJ's had ladder matches in TNA. GREAT start to this match as AJ comes from the crowd and nails Raven in the face as he sits in the corner awaiting his opponent like he usually does. He nails Raven in the head with a few more chairshot before putting it on his head and kicking it off. He lays the ladder on the 2nd rope and places Raven on it, allowing him to Lionsault onto Raven on the ladder! "TNA" chant. AJ nails him with a dropkick in the head as Tenay talks about the fact that Raven's forehead wounds never got to close, hence the bandages. AJ then drop toe holds Raven into an open chair AND DDT's him into it! Raven is already busted open as AJ climbs the ladder...but Raven nails him by throwing a chair at him. A "Smashmouth" if you will. Raven goes out and comes back with a trashcan lid, nailing him with it. Raven then puts the ladder on his neck and spins around....nailing AJ THREE TIMES! Raven drives the ladder into the midsection of AJ in the corner before placing him on the top rope. Raven sets up the ladder wedged between the turnbuckles horizontally and stands on it as AJ gets a trashcan lid while hanging upside down! He NAILS Raven in the face, causing him to crotch himself on the ladder rungs!! Styles jumps off of the top rope and uses the ladder as a see saw to nail Raven, but the spot doesn't come across looking too good. Styles nails him with a trashcan lid (with the handle side) until Raven goes down! AJ tries to climb the ladder, but Raven is up, so AJ jumps off into a 'rana! The contract is on a clipboard at the top of the ladder btw. Raven pulls out a staple gun and uses it on AJ's head! AJ sells it like DEATH and he SHOULD! Now AJ is bleeding as Raven goes to ringside. There are tables set up already and he pulls AJ to the outside. Russian leg sweep into the ring barrier by Raven. AJ crawls up the ramp and hits a desperation HARD superkick on Raven! AJ places Raven on the table, nails him with a trashcan lid and heads to the top rope! Raven pulls the referee on top of him at the last minute as AJ comes off the top with a guillotine legdrop on both Raven AND the ref! A replay of the human shield is shown. Styles tries to get into the ring now and climb the ladder...but Glen Gilberti comes in! He tries to topple the ladder, but Styles kicks him off! Styles almost has the contract....but Gilberti picks him up and powerbombs him through another table at ringside! Raven is up but is EXTREMLY bloody....and he gets the contract! Raven gets the next title shot against Jeff Jarrett!

 

Winner: Raven

 

Afterwards....Raven passes out holding the contract...

 

My Opinion: This was probably the best Hardcore match I've seen since Raven/Rhyno from WWF Backlash 2001. Better than their match from last week, especially with the decisive finish, these two SERIOUSLY busted their asses tonight to provide a kick ass Hardcore Ladder match with elements of garbage wrestling, ladder match spots, sticking to both men's strength and making the other look good. I'm perfectly fine with the interference of Glen Gilberti as they didn't want AJ to job clean to Raven and they shouldn't at this point. Raven passing out from the pain after the match really sold the match. This match told a story and that's something that's been missing in TNA in the past few months. ***1/4

 

End of PPV.

 

Overall: This show definitely had its ups and downs. Thankfully, this week had a very satisfying ending and no cliffhanger for once so it leaves you with a good impression, unlike previous weeks. Next week's matches don't sound too enticing, but I'm sure that TNA will end up deciding what they'll be by next Tuesday. Please.....get rid of Eric Watts. He is dragging down every segment he is in. I'm starting to tolerate S.E.X. again now that Russo is gone and not taking up 40 minutes of every program and every interview segment. Duggan and Moondog Spot need to go and Sanders doesn't deserve what he got. Hell, Steve Corino didn't deserve what he got last week. Lynn vs. Konnan should be good storyline wise, but don't expect much from the match. As always, you can always read Bryan Staebell's TNA preview every Tuesday on TheSmartMarks.com as he previews the matches and gives his opinions and predictions.

 

'Til next week,

 

The Dames, Damian Gonzalez

 

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